In King Neptune's Court...The crossing the line ceremony

For hundreds of years, it has been a tradition in the Royal Navy, US Navy, and Marines to initiate those who cross the equator for the first time (polywogs) into King Neptune's court.  First, though, they have to prove their worthiness by undergoing several rituals.  Once accepted into King Neptune's Court, they become "shellbacks".  Because we crossed the equator at the prime meridian, there is a special status of "royal diamond shellback" (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line-crossing_ceremony for some fascinating history about the tradition.)

Soaked with "fish guts"

Kissing a fish

Kissing King Neptune's ring

Before

During

After!

Today we had the crossing the line ceremony on ship and it involved being soaked with "fish guts", kissing a fish, kissing the rings of King Neptune and his Queen, and being knighted by Davy Jones.  It is also traditional for initiates to have their hair cut off. Sooooo.....

0/0 !

At approximately 12:30 local time the ship crossed the equator at the Prime Meridian...0 degrees latitude and 0 degress longitude.  The captain blew the ship's horn as we crossed the spot, so conceivably if you were standing amidships, you could be in all four hemispheres at the same time!

A photo that Tina Johnson might like.... Small sales stalls in Ghana often have sayings on them--mostly religious references but sometimes other kinds.  The "Travel is Part of Education" sign was a stall in Elmina near the harbor. The flag was on a fishing boat behind the stall....

Kakum National Park canopy walk

Obama plaque next to the entrance to the slave dungeon

"Door of no return" at Cape Coast slave castle

A female slave dungeon

The "door of no return" at Elmina

Elmina slave castle

African dancing workshop

Attempting to keep the rhythm....

The head drummer with a Djembe drum

….. So many emotions and experiences in the past three days in Ghana.  I have fallen into bed each night exhausted and too tired to post to the blog.  We are now getting ready to leave port on our way to South Africa, so I am taking some time to post a few thoughts:

On Wednesday I participated in an African drumming and dancing workshop in Takoradi.  In the morning we saw a performance by a combined group from Accra and Takoradi, and then we split into two groups to learn drumming and dancing.  I enjoyed the drumming, and I tried the dancing….*smile*  We also were able to talk with the performers and some neighborhood children who wandered in…. The joy of the music was in such contrast to the conditions in the neighborhoods.... There is a lot of poverty here, but people seem to be doing what they need to get by without complaining.  Everywhere you go there are people hawking whatever they can make or find to sell…

Thursday was a much more somber day.  We visited two of the castles that for four hundred years were used to house slaves before they were put on ships to go to the New World.   Elmina castle is the oldest and largest of what once was a chain of slave castles along the west African coast.  Learned a lot about the origins of the slave trade and the brutal conditions under which the slaves were held.  It is an eerie feeling to stand at the doorways of the two castles where the slaves left to board the ships.  President Obama spoke here a year ago, and there is a plaque commemorating that event in the Cape Coast castle.  People here are enthusiastic about Obama and the US…  The current President of Ghana is John Mills, and I saw an election poster on the side of a building that had photos of Mills and Obama with the words “Mills and Obama, a leadership team we can trust!”   

On Friday we took a tour of the Kakum National Park, two hours from Takoradi in the central region of Ghana.  It is one of the few remaining sections of rainforest in the region.  Walked along the suspended canopy walk 40 meters above the ground.  However, we did not see much wildlife, since most of the animals are nocturnal.  I would have liked to spend more time in the park and learn more about the ecology of the area, but it was a fairly brief visit.  We finished the afternoon with a walking tour of the city of Elmina.  Fishing is the main activity in Elmina, and there are hundreds of brightly colored  small boats in the harbor. 

Ghana has been much more joyful and welcoming than Morocco, despite the incredible poverty here.  Many of the students on board ship participated in service projects at orphanages and schools during the visit.

This post is getting a little long, but there is so much to say.  More later….

Back at Sea

We are now about halfway between Morocco and Ghana, along the west coast of Africa.   Today is very foggy and rainy.... When we are at sea, we are busy with classes and meetings, so there is not a lot to post about....I was able to follow the last part of the Florida-Tennessee game on CNN's play-by-play last night---Go Gators!  

A VP for IBM spoke on ship yesterday about sustainability issues, and we have formed a Sustainability Club on the ship that is doing a "Low Yo Flow" campaign to get people to conserve water.  Sustainability has turned out to be a major emphasis on this voyage... The students are really into it, and it is one of the three themes of the Global Studies course that all students on the ship are required to take.  I have been reading Bill McKibben's new book "Eaarth"--very sobering.... In the evenings we have "Explore Seminars" on topics of interest.  I am going to be on a panel on sustainability tonight....

Since we are at sea, I will take some photos of the ship in the next few days to give you a sense of what it's like to teach on board....

Food in Morocco

Chicken tajine with lemon and spices

Mint tea

A few people have been asking about food in Morocco, so I thought I would post a few photos... The best parts of Morocco were the food and architecture... Tajines are stews cooked in conical ceramic pots (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajine).  Also loved the couscous and mint tea!  Each city in Morocco has its own version of couscous....

Last Day in Casablanca

Rick's Cafe

A shop in Casablanca

Interior of Hassan II mosque

Hassan II mosque

On the last day in Casablanca, I toured the Hassan II mosque, the third largest mosque in the world.  We also did the tourist thing and had lunch at Rick's Cafe....a reproduction of the set for the movie (see below).  Finally did a little shopping for souvenirs before leaving port in the evening...

Marrakech

Yves Saint Laurent memorial in the Majorelle Gardens

Bahia Palace

Central square in Marrakech (with snake charmers!)

Majorelle Gardens

Yesterday we took an all day trip to Marrakech, about 3 hours south of Casablanca, at the foot of the Atlas Mountains.  First stop was the Majorelle Gardens, built by French painter Jacques Majorelle in 1919 to house his collection of plants from 5 continents.  Yves Saint Laurent established a trust for the gardens and his ashes are in a memorial there.  We then entered the Marrakech medina and toured the Bahia Palace, the only royal palace in Morocco open to the public.  The palace was built for the wives and concubines of the grand vizier to the sultan, and has been the location for many movies.  We also had lunch near the central square and saw snake charmers and monkey trainers in the square. 

Rabat

In the Medina at Rabat

The Casbah (fortress)

Roman forum at Rabat

In the Roman forum in Rabat

The Mausoleum of Moroccan kings

Today I took a day trip to Rabat with a group from the ship.  Archbishop Tutu and his wife were on the trip and it was good to see them relaxing and enjoying the sightseeing.  We visited the royal quarter in Rabat, the Mausoleum of Moroccan kings Mohammed V and Hassan II, and also the Necropolis, which contains ruins of a Roman forum.  Here are a few photos from the trip, including one for Amy or Susan to translate....

Rick's Cafe

By the way, there IS a Rick's Cafe in Casablanca, but it is just a reproduction of the original set for the movie.  None of the movie was shot on location in Casablanca.  The restaurant was opened by a former State Department official who stayed in Morocco....

Casablanca!

I had a wonderful dinner and tour in Casablanca with Angela Arigoni-Mesfioui (RMWC Class of '01) and her husband and daughter, along with a couple from the ship last night. We ate at a restaurant within walking distance of the port that is within the walls of the old medina.  Since it was the end of Ramadan, people were celebrating breaking the fast, and there was a huge buffet banquet under canopies outside the restaurant, with live Moroccan music. We sat on beanbag chairs around a low table. Delicious selection of bread, grains, fruit, hummus, and sausages.  The mint tea with jasmine was incredible...extremely sweet and fragrant!  After dinner, we took a walk through the old medina bazaar at night.  It was crowded, colorful, noisy...all of the things you would imagine a bazaar to be.  Angela also drove us around town, by the huge mosque, and along the beaches south of town. The area south of the mosque is much more modern, with clubs and restaurants. We got ice cream and listened to some Arabic music for awhile, and then returned to the ship by way of the city.  Driving in Casablanca is REALLY crazy...lanes are only a suggestion, and there are pedestrians and motorbikes everywhere. Angela was a pro, though, and got us back to the ship safely.

Wind and Solar Farm Tour

This is me "tilting at windmills" in Spain....We had a great tour today of wind and solar energy facilities about a half hour out of Cadiz.  Spain is second only to Germany is solar energy and fourth in the world in wind energy.  Our tour guide was a Spanish physicist who is one of Al Gore's "Ambassadors" who do the Inconvenient Truth presentation, and he also has written a book on climate change and sustainability in Europe.  We now have left Cadiz and will arrive in Casablanca tomorrow morning....

Seville, the Alcazar, and Seville Cathedral

Today we took a one day trip to Seville, and saw the Alcazar palace, parts of which were constructed in the 1100's by the Moors.  Columbus left from Seville and Cadiz for his four voyages to America, and Magellan left from Seville for his voyage around the world.  We also saw the Seville Cathedral, fourth largest in the world.  We ate lunch at a open air cafe along the river.  Here is a sampling of photos... along with a panorama from the top of the bell tower of the Seville Cathedral.  Tomorrow we will visit a wind farm and solar energy facility... and then leave late tomorrow afternoon for Morocco.

Teatro Romano

And these are for Susan and Amy.... Only a small portion of the Roman theater at Cadiz has been excavated, partly because a section of it lies underneath the cathedral.  They are currently doing excavations, but I was able to get a few photos through the fence.  According to our guide, the Roman theater at Cadiz is estimated to have had a capacity of 15,000 people......